Brushes with Greatness...

This weekend I had the pleasure to attend the Gottagetgon Family Folk Music Festival in Ballston Spa. It was too much fun: loads of great performances, jams, and sing-alongs, and who knew I'd find a fun book to read: Ticket to Ride: the Extraordinary Diary of the Beatles' Last Tour, by Barry Tashian. Barry and his band The Remains, were hired to open for the Beatles on their 1966 tour of the US. He was only 21 years old. On the advice of his father, he kept a diary. (Listen to your parents.) What an experience that must have been! Along with his diary entries, Barry includes numerous photos, fan accounts of the shows, and then-current events of the day. Paging through the book gave me a chance to explain who the Beatles were to my kid. The Remains disbanded soon after, and Barry later spent ten years touring with Emmylou Harris as part of her Hot Band.

Barry and his wife Holly played at the festival this weekend, and they were terrific. I love the new/old country music--call it what you will. They have a great stage presence, and witty lyrics. You can sample their music and purchase their cd's at their website. If you like guitar jazz/blues of the 20's and 30's then you should check out The Blue Rhythm Boys. They were also at the festival, and played a smokin' set.

Meanwhile, if you'd like to read other Brushes with Greatness, I recommend You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again: The True Adventures of a Hollywood Nanny, by Suzanne Hansen. It's another tale of what happens to a fresh-faced young thing as an underpaid underling to the rich and famous, a la The Devil Wears Prada. If this is what the working world is like for the entry level, it's no wonder we have a Boomerang generation that doesn't want to leave home. If you want to peek inside the music biz, try So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star?... by Jacob Slichter, drummer for the band Minneapolis band Semisonic. They had one big hit with Closing Time, a few years back, but didn't live up to their own expectations of being the next U2. (Q: Does everyone who went to Harvard think they'll be the next U2? A: Yes. Q: Can you dislike the narrator and still like the book? A: Yes.) From what he says about the music biz you see that's it's almost a miracle that any good music gets major label backing at all, ever.